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The following 2022 video shows the old one-lane ridgetop road in Larimer Township of Somerset County, Pennsylvania that my uncle and aunt Irving & Julia (Dietle) Saylor lived along back in the 1950s and 1960s, when I was a kid. By running along the ridge, the road avoids the gullies that are located on the flanks of the ridge.
This road, although rough, is far better than the road my maternal grandparents lived along back in the 1950s, because this road isn't rocky. As you watch the video, keep an eye out for "breakers," which are shallow ditches cut across the steeper parts of the road. The breakers catch and divert water flowing down the road in wet weather. Their purpose is to reduce erosion.
The earliest map I have seen that illustrates the road is the May 1, 1915 "Map of the Public Roads in Somerset County, Pennsylvania". The road also appears on this 1923 1:48,000 topographical map and this 1923 1:62,500 topographical map. (On these 1923 maps, White Oak Hollow Road is still illustrated as being a trail.) If you can find the road on an earlier map, please let me know.
L. Dietle
